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GREENSBORO — The one thing UNCG's basketball team wants to do in the new year is find a new formula.

And there's not much time to do it.

N.C. State handed the Spartans an 89-67 defeat Thursday night at the Greensboro Coliseum in a game that looked familiar. The Spartans played similar home games against ACC opponents Clemson and Wake Forest and, to a lesser extent, against East Carolina, Princeton and College of Charleston.

That is, they started the game in a big hole, battled back to make it close, then wilted in the second half.

"I think we're getting tougher as a team, meaning we're battling really hard," said coach Mike Dement. "The problem is we're running out of steam by battling so hard and we gas out quickly. Trying to guard the speed, the quickness, the size, the bodies (of ACC teams), it wears us down."

The Spartans dropped to 2-10 overall and are 0-6 in their new home facility. They finish their run against ACC foes Sunday at 1 p.m. against Maryland. After that, they will play their remaining 16 games against Southern Conference teams.

N.C. State won this one with a strong second half, outscoring the Spartans 57-39 while shooting 67.9 percent, lifting its record to 11-3 going into Sunday's home game against Florida.

The Spartans, as usual, started slowly, falling behind 20-6 in the first 8:15 of the game. Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe felt his team relaxed and UNCG took advantage, attacking on offense and getting the Pack to stand around against a matchup zone defense.

UNCG sliced the lead to 32-28 at halftime, then missed three shots and turned the ball over twice on its first five possessions of the second half. The Spartans stayed with 49-43 but the Pack put the game away with a 20-4 burst over the next five minutes.

State's defense was more active, leading to a rash of Spartan turnovers and easy baskets. Offensively, the Pack picked apart UNCG's zone and took better care of the ball, not turning it over until 5:07 remained in the game.

"Ball pressure," explained Pack point guard Javier Gonzales, who recorded 15 points and five assists. "We made them do things they didn't really want to do. We were getting a lot of easy shots and I didn't think in the second half their defense was a factor."

The 89 points were State's highest this season by a dozen. Coach Sidney Lowe said that's the way he wants his team to play.

"We're trying to get more pace into the ball game," he said. "I think it gives us more opportunities. I don't want to come down and grind and set up and run an offensive set. We have to get some easy baskets and part of that is being able to do it on the defensive end, getting those stops and getting out. We definitely want to get the ball up the floor."

Tracy Smith scored 21 points to lead State, mostly because UNCG didn't have a big man capable of putting a body on him. Dennis Horner added 17, 15 in the second half after Lowe said "we had a discussion, he and I." Scott Wood added 15 on five 3-pointers.

Ben Stywall's 18 points and 13 rebounds paced the Spartans and Brandon Evans added 14. UNCG outrebounded State by 38-27.

NOTES: Sunday's game against Maryland is a 1 o'clock start, not 2 p.m. as may be printed on some tickets. The time was changed to accommodate TV (Comcast Sports, but not telecast in North Carolina) ... UNCG was down two players as Mikko Koivisto and Pete Brown sat out with stomach flu ... Greensboro's Johnny Thomas made an appearance for State late in the game and missed a shot but recorded an assist.

N.C. STATE (10-3) — Wood 5-7 0-0 15, T.Smith 9-14 3-6 21, Horner 6-10 4-5 17, Gonzalez 5-7 2-2 15, Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Howell 0-0 3-4 3, Kufuor 0-0 0-0 0, Painter 1-2 0-0 2, Degand 3-5 1-1 8, Davis 1-5 0-0 2, Mays 0-1 4-4 4, K.Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-56 17-22 89.

UNCG (2-10) — Stywall 6-10 6-6 18, Cole 5-13 0-1 10, VanDussen 5-6 0-0 12, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Toney 1-6 0-0 3, Sellers 0-0 0-0 0, Dilmore 0-0 0-0 0, Randall 3-11 0-0 6, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Hardiman 0-0 0-0 0, Bone 2-3 0-0 4, Evans 5-12 3-4 14, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 9-11 67.

Halftime—N.C. State 32-28.
3-goint goals—N.C. State 10-18 (Wood 5-7, Gonzalez 3-4, Degand 1-2, Horner 1-3, Williams 0-1, Mays 0-1), UNCG 4-14 (VanDussen 2-2, Evans 1-3, Toney 1-5, Stywall 0-1, Randall 0-1, Cole 0-2).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—N.C. State 27 (T.Smith 8), UNCG 38 (Stywall 13).
Assists—N.C. State 18 (Gonzalez 5), UNCG 10 (VanDussen 4).
Total fouls—N.C. State 12, UNCG 18.
A—5,072.